Figure and oscillatable ball assembly

ABSTRACT

A miniature figure of a human being affixed to a base, with one arm outstretched forwardly, the base having a leaf spring fastened by one end to its upper surface adjoining the rear thereof, said spring when at rest being inclined upwardly and forwardly with a simulated basketball fastened to the free end thereof just under the outstretched hand of the figure, whereby when the ball is set in up and down movement it will continue to move for a protracted period as if it were bounding under the hand of the figure.

United States Patent 51 Mar. 28, 1972 Lang [541 FIGURE AND OSCILLATABLE BALL ASSEMBLY [72] Inventor: Dean D. Lang, W220, N5459 Town Line Road, Sussex, Wis. 53089 [22] Filed: Mar. 19, 1970 [211 App]. No.: 21,115

521 Us. CL ..46/ll6 [51] Int. Cl. ..A63h 13/00 [58] Field ofSearch ..46/1l6,118,120,130,142, 46/143, 148, 147, 140, 137, 295, 297; 40/10625, 106.3

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 702,515 6/1902 Weisner ..46/148 1,534,887 4/1925 Baker ..46/142 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 56,920 1211912 Germany ..46/148 837,672 3/1952 Germany ..46/142 Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-A. Heinz Attorney-Gerald P. Welch [57] ABSTRACT A miniature figure of a human being affixed to a base, with one arm outstretched forwardly, the base having a leaf spring fastened by one end to its upper surface adjoining the rear thereof, said spring when at rest being inclined upwardly and forwardly with a simulated basketball fastened to the free end thereof just under the outstretched hand of the figure, whereby when the ball is set in up and down movement it will continue to move for a protracted period as if it were bounding under the hand of the figure.

1 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures Patented March 28, 1972 3,651,598

INVENTOR flfA/V 0 LANG BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention is in the field of athletic trophies or action toys. It has the miniature statuette of the trophy and a moving part which will enhance its value as a trophy and with certain changes in the statuette will enlarge the use thereof to that of an action toy.

Heretofore trophy construction has been bereft of any moving parts, whereas in the present device, especially in the basketball field, the moving parts thereof add to the value of the product.

SUMMARY The device includes a statuette of an athlete, as for instance, a basketball player, mounted on a base. The figure has one arm extended forwardly. A narrow leaf spring is fastened to the base directly behind one hand of the figure. The spring is bent to extend upwardly to a point under the hand of the figure. A basketball simulated sphere is fixed to the end of the spring. When the ball element is pushed upwardly or downwardly the flexing of the spring will keep it oscillating for some time and the effect is that of a basketball player bounding the ball in what is known as the dribbling" operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view taken on lines 1-1 of FIG. 3. FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side view in elevation of the base element showing the leaf spring normally at rest.

FIG. 3 is a front view in elevation of the figure and simulated basketball.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The device includes a base 10 with the statuette of an athlete or basketball player 11 affixed thereto as is illustrated in FIG. 3. A leaf spring 12 is secured to the upper surface of the base 10 by a threaded fastener 13, or other appropriate means. The leaf spring 12 is bent to normally incline upwardly as shown in FIG. 2 and the free end thereof is wedged or adhesively secured within a slot in the simulated basketball 14.

In use, the simulated basketball may be set in motion manually, after which the action of the spring 12 will keep the ball 14 oscillating for some time with the efi'ect that the statuette appears to dribble" the ball. When the device is carried in the back window of a vehicle, road vibration will keep the basketball in constant movement.

It is contemplated that other figure types may be used, such as a clown appearing to be bouncing a ball.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. A statuette figure of an athlete affixed to a conventional base, the figure so posed as to suggest movement, the arms of the figure outstretched with the right am inclined forwardly, a leaf spring having a lower and .upper end, said lower end being secured to the base at the rear thereof directly behind the right hand of said figure, a simulated basketball fixed on said upper end of said spring, the latter being bent and inclined upwardly to normally maintain said basketball half way between said base and the right hand of the athlete, whereby when movement is imparted to the basketball and the spring, the figure will appear to be bounding said ball. 

1. A statuette figure of an athlete affixed to a conventional base, the figure so posed as to suggest movement, the arms of the figure outstretched with the right arm inclined forwardly, a leaf spring having a lower and upper end, said lower end being secured to the base at the rear thereof directly behind the right hand of said figure, a simulated basketball fixed on said upper end of said spring, the latter being bent and inclined upwardly to normally maintain said basketball half way between said base and the right hand of the athlete, whereby when movement is imparted to the basketball and the spring, the figure will appear to be bounding said ball. 